What that means: Lollis is a customer liaison, manages purchasing through the new electronic system, does data entry, and she serves as her work group’s time keeper, accountant and much more.

Notable: Lollis always willingly goes beyond the call of duty to get her work done and is innovative and enterprising. She handled the challenges and opportunities that came with the FO/Housing Maintenance merger with grace and a positive attitude. Changes at KU have required Lollis to learn all new operational procedures and a new computerized maintenance management system for work request documentation and completion.

University Unclassified Staff Employee of the Month

Who: Ken Nelson

Start date: May 1995

Current title: Manager, Kansas Data Access and Support Center

What that means: Nelson is responsible for the operation and management of DASC, which develops and makes available a core of databases from state and local government. The staff of DASC has also led the development of the state’s Geographic Information System (GIS) initiatives and policies, and Nelson heads the group responsible for GIS services and also computer services for the KGS. Nelson and his staff interact at all levels with other state agencies (including the departments of commerce and revenue, the Kansas Corporation Commission, and the Kansas Water Office), local government and private industry.

Notable: Under Nelson’s leadership, DASC has become recognized as a national leader in digital database distribution. Nelson is known for hiring and leading an energetic and organized staff. He also worked with the state GIS officer, legislative research staff and various legislators on passage of House Bill 2175 to create and coordinate mapping capability in the state of Kansas

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Tears. Smiles. And hugs. That’s what Match Day brought as KU Medical Center’s first Salina class learned where they would go for their residencies — the next step in their medical training. See the Salina Journal’s report and photos: http://bit.ly/1HtAWbW
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David Roediger’s award-winning research and writing has already transformed how historians view the growth of social freedoms in America though the intersection of race, class, ethnicity, and labor. Now Roediger, as KU’s first Foundation Distinguished Professor of History (http://bit.ly/1AbAqYw), will continue to break new ground in those fields as he leads KU’s departments of American Studies and History.
Roediger likes to study historical flash points — where one particular change brings a cascade of wider cultural changes. His latest book, “Seizing Freedom, Slave Emancipation and Liberty for All,” makes the point that as slaves began freeing themselves across the South during the Civil War, their emancipation inspired and ignited other cultural movements for freedom — such as the women’s movement for suffrage and the labor movement for better working conditions and an eight-hour day.
Understanding the individual stories of average people who wanted to make their lives better, including slaves or factory workers, is important to understanding the wider political movements and elections, Roediger said.
“It's tempting to think that all the important political questions have been decided,” he said, “but actually people are constantly thinking about what freedom would mean for them.”